Best of L.A.: Food and Drink

—Jill Stewart

BEST JAPANESE-MAID CAFÉ

Star Foreman

Star Foreman

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El Pollo Inka

15400 Hawthorne Blvd.
Lawndale, CA 90260

Category: Restaurant > Fast Food

Region: South Bay

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More About

• Nicolas Taborek
• Noah Galuten
• Liz Ohanesian
• North-American Food and Cooking
• Meat

Royal/T café-gallery-shop has much to offer by way of delicious things, not least of which is cute little Asian-girl waitresses dressed up as French maids. Is it surprising that the nation’s first Japanese “maid café” opened here in Los Angeles? Maybe. We are lucky that we don’t have to travel to Tokyo’s Akihabara district, the epicenter of the maid-café cosplay phenomenon, to dine in this kind of splendor. While the gals at Royal/T may not exactly kneel at your table when they pour your matcha milk-tea (Royal/T’s is excellent), or call you “master” when they deliver your omelette, or spoon-feed you brioche, or blow on your food if it’s too hot, like the Akihabara maids do — at least, not that I’ve seen — they are plenty accommodating. Still sad? Console yourself by staring at the café’s impressive selection of art — the Murakamis, the Naras, the Kaws sculptures, the Jennifer Steinkamp tree-video projection swirling in the baroque-rococo lounge room. Or buy yourself a weird little something-something from the exquisitely curated shop. A giant stuffed vinyl squid? A big-eyed Blythe doll? Those you can take home with you to molest. 8910 Washington Blvd., Culver City. (310) 559 6300, royal-t.org.

—Gendy Alimurung

BEST GRINDING AND STUFFING

It’s got to be a little depressing living the sausage life in a grocery-store meat case, where even the most robust bratwurst is so often upstaged by a scrawny little flank steak. At Bob’s Market in Santa Monica, the small, family-run grocery store has put its chubby pork bangers and sweet Italian chicken sausages front and center for more than 30 years. You’ll find classics like andouille and chorizo nestled beside more unusual offerings like chicken-apple, chicken-cilantro and pork-pecorino sausages. Most of the glistening chubs of ground meat and spices lined up in neat rows sell for a mere $5 to $6 a pound. Smile really sweetly and you can even persuade the in-house sausage guru to grind and stuff your own creation, although you’ve got to come up with a recipe first — and promise to buy at least five pounds of the stuff, good or bad. 1650 Ocean Park Blvd., Santa Monica. (310) 452-2493, bobsmkt.com.

—Jenn Garbee

BEST GOOD OL’ SOUTHERN (KOREAN) BBQ

The sheer number of restaurants in Koreatown is mind-boggling to sort through. A lot of folks keep it simple; when they want primally addictive Korean BBQ, they head to the simple, modest place with the three-word name that happens to sound, in English, like a hard-charging, smoke-spewing all-terrain vehicle: Soot Bull Jeep. Perhaps the name is strangely appropriate? There are the earthy red-brick walls; the efficient, officious, skirt-clad waitresses; the constant crowds — Korean and non-Korean alike, with their often joyous, celebratory vibe — and then there’s the smoke. The holy smoke, that wafts and streams from the center-table BBQ pits, filling the place with pure marinated-meat spicy sweetness. Menu decisions are easy: Pick a meat (Spencer steak, short ribs, spicy pork, chicken, calamari, etc.) and it comes with a scrumptious array of sides — some leafy, some pickled — and rice. It’s so damn satisfying you wear the smoky smell on your clothes like a sacred culinary anointing. 3136 W. Eighth St., Koreatown. (213) 387-3865.

—Adam Gropman

BEST SOUP DUMPLINGS

There are still people who haven’t heard of xiaolongbao, the Shanghai specialty occasionally called XLB, or, most commonly, soup dumplings. When you explain the dish to those who aren’t familiar, they’ll have one of two responses: either “... there’s soup inside the dumplings? How do they do that?” (yes, there is, and it’s done by using meat gelatin, which turns to liquid when heated) or “...where can I get some?” (nowhere west of the 110). Occasionally they’ll utter both responses, one on top of the other. Many different versions can be found around town, and restaurants, like J & J, Mei Long Village and Giang Nan, have their impassioned supporters. Some people prefer their soup dumplings with pork, and others with pork and crab. But the most praised, and, really, the best, are at the Arcadia restaurant Din Tai Fung. The pork soup dumplings, No. 50 on the menu, have the purest flavor and the best combination of delicacy and durability (good luck eating an unstable soup pouch). And they do the best job of creating a harmonious union with the accompanying Chinese black vinegar and shredded ginger. As an added bonus, Din Tai Fung’s chopstick wrapper even has a diagram explaining how to eat them. 1108 S. Baldwin Ave., Arcadia. (626) 574-7068.

—Noah Galuten

BEST SOUTH INDIAN BUFFET

Most Indian restaurants specialize in Northern Indian dishes. Mayura’s lunchtime buffet is a chance to delve into South Indian cuisine, specifically that of the tropical state of Kerala on India’s Southwest coast, where you’ll find more coconut, tamarind, and plenty of yogurt, lentils, chiles and rice. For $8.95 the buffet includes at least 10 dishes (which may change depending on the day), including nonvegetarian fare, like tandoori chicken, fish curry or chicken biryani; there is a wide assortment of vegetarian dishes, not to mention a great variety of chutneys and pickles. Be sure to sample some of the uniquely South Indian dishes: the soupy sambar (a vegetable stew made from tamarind and pigeon peas), and the salty, spicy rasam (using tomatoes and lentils), which goes well over the tangy yogurt rice. There is an embarrassment of starchy riches with which to soak up all of these, including the Northern Indian dish of doughy naan bread and peppery pappadum; the South Indian dosa (like a crispy crepe) and appam (a rice-batter, white pancake that is simply extraordinary when combined with the rich, sweet coconut chutney) and a variety of rice dishes 10406 Venice Blvd., Culver City. (310) 559-9644.